Thomas steams into China

HIT Entertainment has held a press conference with the Chinese national press to announce a strategic licensing agreement with PPW.

The first consumer products to launch in the market will be RC2 and Tomy‘s toy lines.

In addition to these, Children’s Fun Publishing, part of the Egmont group, will launch Thomas & Friends publishing in China in early 2009 with twelve TV tie-in story book titles followed by colouring and activity titles and Thomas story library books.

Frank Foley, general manager of Asia HIT Entertainment commented: “Thomas & Friends is one of the world’s most popular and unique properties in the pre-school market today and we are delighted to be bringing the show to a Chinese audience.

“We’re thrilled to be working with PPW in what we see as a long-term strategic partnership. We will also identify opportunities in other areas, such as ELT and Theme Parks China is an important growth market for HIT and we look forward to making Thomas & Friends a success in this territory.”

Ivan Chan, president of PPW added: “We’re delighted to be working with HIT Entertainment to bring Thomas and Friends’ world of education, joy, warmth and humour to children across China.

“This is an extremely exciting time for us. We are confident parents and children in China will embrace the positive values in which the Thomas and Friends brand represents. We have established first year, three year and five year plan. We aim to have 1,500 retail outlets in year one.”